The 2016 season was the Miami Dolphins' 47th in the National Football League (NFL), their 51st overall, their first under general manager Chris Grier and their first under head coach Adam Gase.
With their Week 15 win over the New York Jets, the Dolphins clinched a winning record for the first time since 2008, and clinched a playoff berth the following week after the Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Denver Broncos, ending their 8-year playoff drought.
However, they were defeated by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Wild Card round, ending their season and not winning a playoff game for the 16th straight year.
[1] On January 4, the Dolphins promoted director of college scouting Chris Grier to replace Hickey as the new general manager.
[2] The Dolphins front office, which is made up of owner Stephen Ross, executive vice president of football operations Mike Tannenbaum, CEO Tom Garfinkel, vice chairman Matt Higgins and Grier, developed a committee to find a permanent replacement for former head coach Joe Philbin, who was fired and replaced by tight ends coach Dan Campbell on October 5, 2015.
Assistant general manager Eric Stokes was promoted to senior personnel executive.
[8] On August 16, 2016, the Dolphins announced the naming rights to their home stadium had been sold to Hard Rock International.
[11] March 7, 2016 – The Dolphins acquire LB Kiko Alonso and CB Byron Maxwell from the Philadelphia Eagles in exchange for swapping first round picks (8 and 13).
[15] The Dolphins first departure of 2016 was the waiving of offensive tackle Jason Curtis Fox, who had one year remaining on his contract, on January 12.
[16] The Dolphins also released cornerback Brent Grimes and wide receiver Greg Jennings on March 5, 2016 after an uneventful 2015 season.
[17][18] On March 9, the Dolphins lost Olivier Vernon, Lamar Miller, Derrick Shelby, Kelvin Sheppard, and Rishard Matthews to other teams during free agency.
Running backs (RB) Wide receivers (WR) Tight ends (TE) Defensive linemen (DL) Defensive backs (DB) Special teams Reserve This was the first preseason since 1999 that the Dolphins did not play the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
In the first quarter, the Dolphins would trail early as Steven Hauschka nailed a 39-yard field goal, giving Seattle a 3–0 lead.
However, Seattle would march down the field and take the lead for good, as Russell Wilson found Doug Baldwin from 2 yards out.
In the first of three games at home before their bye, the Dolphins gave up an early lead to the Tennessee Titans that they failed to overturn, as they fell to 1–4.
Miami trailed 10–0 with just over four minutes remaining, but touchdown passes from quarterback Ryan Tannehill to Jarvis Landry and DeVante Parker put the Dolphins up by four points with 36 seconds left on the clock.
On a wet day in Miami, Andrew Franks kicked the game-winning field goal as time expired to give the Dolphins a 26–23 win over the Arizona Cardinals.
Matt Moore was named AFC Offensive Player of the Week for his four-touchdown performance.
Miami needed a 56-yard field goal by Andrew Franks to force overtime, and the combination of a missed Dan Carpenter FG attempt by Buffalo and a 57-yard run by Jay Ajayi set Franks up to make the game-winning kick.